Foundation Grants to Benefit Cancer, Transplant and Diabetes Programs

Posted on by Robert Hernandez

The Indianapolis Academic Health Center Philanthropy Council, which assists the Indiana University Health Foundation in its grantsmaking work, has announced three recipients of grants from the Area of Greatest Need fund. They are:

CompleteLife Music Therapy: Resources for a Growing Program. The number of patients participating in music therapy at Indiana University Health Simon Cancer Center and University Hospital is expected to double over last year’s total. The $20,000 grant will buy new musical instruments and technologies to allow the program to grow. Team members who collaborated on the winning grant application include Chad Stearns, administrative director of radiation oncology; Lindsay Syswerda, coordinator of the CompleteLife Program and Cancer Resource Center; Emily Caudill, MT-BC, music therapist, and Adam Perry, MA, MT-BC, music therapist.

Expansion of the Center of Life for Thoracic Transplant (COLTT). Founded to serve lung transplant patients, this rehab center now also serves heart transplant and ventricular services patients. The $54,000 grant will allow the center to expand from half-day to full-day programs, change the center’s current footprint, and convert from a provider-based unit to a hospital-based unit for purposes of billing. The project team includes David Roe, MD, FACP, FCCP, medical director, lung transplant; Chadi Hage, MD, medical director of COLTT Center; and Pauline Flesch PT, MPS, executive director, Rehabilitation and Fitness Services.

IU Health Physicians Diabetes Centers Diabetes Prevention Program Pilot. This $56,701.90 grant will place the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)-approved Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) at two IU Health Physicians Diabetes Center locations for at least two years and offer its services for free. The grant also covers training for 15 Diabetes Center nurses and dietitians to become lifestyle coaches, and funds a program coordinator to collect and analyze data. After two years, DPP will submit its data to the CDC and likely be approved to be a Medicare provider. Tonya Somers, MS, RD, CDE, manager, IUHP Diabetes Centers, submitted the grant application.

To contribute to programs you care about, or learn more about the IU Health Foundation, visit iuhealthfoundation.org.